Monitoring domain allocation performance

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for monitoring the performance associated with fulfilling resource requests and determining optimizations for improving such performance are provided. A processing device obtains and processes performance metric information associated with processing a request corresponding to two or more embedded resources. The processing device uses the processed performance metric information to determine an allocation of one or more domains to be associated with the two or more embedded resources. In some embodiments, in making such a determination, the processing device assesses performance metric information collected and associated with subsequent requests for the two or more embedded resources using each of a variety of alternative allocations of domains associated with the two or more embedded resources. The processing device may also consider a number of factors, including domain selection criteria obtained from an original content provider. Aspects of systems and methods for generating recommendations to use a particular allocation of domains to process a subsequent request corresponding to the two or more embedded resources are also provided.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/869,395, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,491,073, entitled “MONITORING DOMAINALLOCATION PERFORMANCE” and filed Sep. 29, 2015, which in turn is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/902,546, now U.S. Pat. No.9,160,641, entitled “MONITORING DOMAIN ALLOCATION PERFORMANCE” and filedon May 24, 2013, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 12/941,925, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,452,870, entitled “MONITORINGDOMAIN ALLOCATION PERFORMANCE” and filed on Nov. 8, 2010, which in turnis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/240,863, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,930,393, entitled “MONITORING DOMAIN ALLOCATIONPERFORMANCE” and filed on Sep. 29, 2008, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks may beutilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computingdevice may request content from another computing device via acommunication network. For example, a user at a personal computingdevice may utilize a browser application to request a web page from aserver computing device via the Internet. In such embodiments, the usercomputing device may be referred to as a client computing device and theserver computing device may be referred to as a content provider.

Content providers are generally motivated to provide requested contentto client computing devices often with consideration of efficienttransmission of the requested content to the client computing deviceand/or consideration of a cost associated with the transmission of thecontent. Additionally, the content requested by the client computingdevices may have a number of components, which may require furtherconsideration of latencies associated with delivery of the individualcomponents as well as the originally requested content as a whole.

With reference to an illustrative example, a requested Web page, ororiginal content, may be associated with a number of additionalresources, such as images or videos, that are to be displayed with theWeb page. In one specific embodiment, the additional resources of theWeb page are identified by a number of embedded resource identifiers,such as uniform resource locators (“URLs”). In turn, software on theclient computing devices, such as a browser application, typicallyprocesses embedded resource identifiers to generate requests for thecontent. Often the resource identifiers associated with the embeddedresource reference a computing device associated with the contentprovider such that the client computing device would transmit therequest for the additional resources to the referenced computingdevices. Accordingly, in order to satisfy a content request, the contentprovider(s) (or any service provider on behalf of the contentprovider(s)) would provide client computing devices data associated withthe Web page and/or data associated with the embedded resources.

Traditionally, a number of methodologies exist which measure theperformance associated with the exchange of data such as in theenvironment described above. For example, some methodologies provide forlimited measurement of performance metrics associated with network sideprocessing of a content request. Other methodologies allow for limitedmeasurement of performance metrics associated with the content requestmeasured from the browser side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many of the attendant advantages and aspects of the present disclosurewill become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a performance measurementsystem including a number of client computing devices, a contentprovider, and a processing device;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the performance measurement system of FIG.1 illustrating the process of monitoring and fulfilling resourcerequests;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the performance measurement system of FIG.1 illustrating the process of identifying and providing performancemetric information from a client computing device;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the performance measurement system of FIG.1 illustrating the process of identifying and providing performancemetric information from a content provider;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrative of a performance monitoring routineimplemented by a client computing device for monitoring the performanceassociated with resource requests made by the client computing device;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrative of a performance monitoring routineimplemented by a performance measurement component for furthermonitoring client side performance associated with resource requestsmade by the client computing device;

FIGS. 7A-7E are illustrative user interfaces displaying a variety ofperformance metric information collected by the performance measurementsystem of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrative of a content processing andrecommendation routine implemented by the processing device of theperformance measurement system of FIG. 1 for processing a resourcerequest corresponding to two or more embedded resources and determiningan allocation of domains to be associated with the embedded resources.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, the present disclosure is directed to monitoringthe performance and processing of data exchanges between clientcomputing devices and server computing devices. Specifically, aspects ofthe disclosure will be described with regard to monitoring a dataexchange involving a request by a client computing device for anoriginal resource and two or more corresponding embedded resources anddynamically identifying one or more sets of domains to be utilized inconjunction with processing a subsequent request corresponding to thetwo or more embedded resources. Performance data can then be used toassess performance related to the processing of the various clientrequests for the original and corresponding embedded resources.Additionally, the processed performance data can be used to determinewhether to recommend a particular allocation of domains to be associatedwith the embedded resources for improving performance of subsequentclient requests for the original and embedded resources.

Traditionally, network servers can collect latency informationassociated with a server's processing of a client request for aresource. For example, network servers can measure a time associatedwith processing an incoming client request, identifying/obtaining therequested resource, and initiating the transmission of the resourceresponsive to the client request. Additionally, client computing devicescan collect latency information associated with the client computingdevice's initiation of a resource request and receipt of the resourceresponsive to the request. Aspects of the present disclosure, which willbe described further below, are directed to identifying and providingadditional information to improve the performance assessment related tothe processing of a client request for one or more resources and todynamically identifying and evaluating modifications to the originalrequest, original resource, and/or any embedded resources.

Even further, traditionally, client computing device hardware andsoftware, including browsers, operating systems, network stacks, androuters, may be configured to limit or otherwise restrict networktraffic according to set rules. For example, Web browsers may attempt toplace limits on the number of simultaneous connections that may beinitiated by or maintained between the browser and any particularcontent provider computing device. In many browsers, connections may belimited by domain name, such that, for example, a client computingdevice may maintain a threshold number of simultaneous connections to agiven domain name. In accordance with further aspects of the presentdisclosure, which will also be described further below, the performanceassessment associated with processing resource requests will take suchlimitations or restrictions into consideration. Although various aspectsof the disclosure will be described with regard to illustrative examplesand embodiments, one skilled in the art will appreciate that thedisclosed embodiments and examples should not be construed as limiting.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a performance measurementsystem 100 for monitoring the performance and processing of dataexchanges. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the performance measurement system100 includes a number of client computing devices 102 (generallyreferred to as clients) for requesting content from a content provider.As illustrated in FIG. 1, each client computing device 102 includes aclient computing component 104 for requesting content from networkresources in the form of an originally requested resource that mayinclude identifiers to two or more embedded resources that need to berequested. As will be described in greater detail below, the clientcomputing component 104 also identifies performance metrics obtained byclient computing devices and/or components, such as browser softwareapplications. Additionally, the client computing device 102 includes aperformance measurement component 106 that identifies additionalperformance metrics associated with the client request, such as networklevel performance data including, for example, timing of receipt offirst and last network packets of data for fulfilling the originalresource request and each embedded resource request. In one embodiment,the performance measurement component 106 works in conjunction with theclient computing component 104 to collect performance metric informationsuch as from an operating system or a data file.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the client computing component 104 andperformance measurement component 106 are executed on each clientcomputing device 102. Alternatively, the client computing component 104may not be configured, or is otherwise incapable of, obtaining orproviding some or all of the performance metric information describedherein. In such an embodiment, the client computing component 104 mayfunction with a reduced or limited capacity. In still a furtherembodiment, the client computing component 104 may function inconjunction with a separate communication software application (e.g., abrowser software application) to provide the combined functionalitydescribed for the client computing component 104. For example, theclient computing component could correspond to a stand alone softwareapplication, plugin, script, and the like. Additionally, although eachclient computing device 102 is illustrated as having a separateperformance measurement component 106, in an alternative embodiment, theperformance measure component 106 may be shared by one or more clientcomputing devices.

In an illustrative embodiment, the client computing devices 102 maycorrespond to a wide variety of computing devices including personalcomputing devices, laptop computing devices, hand-held computingdevices, terminal computing devices, mobile devices, wireless devices,various electronic devices and appliances and the like. As alsoillustrated in FIG. 1, the client computing devices 102 are consideredto be logically grouped, as represented generally by client 107,regardless of whether the client computing devices are physicallyseparate and geographically distributed throughout the communicationnetwork 114. In this regard, the client computing devices 102 may eachcommunicate directly or indirectly with other computing devices overnetwork 114, such as a wide area network or local network. Additionally,one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that client 107 can beassociated with various additional computing devices/componentsincluding, but not limited to, content and resource administrativecomponents, DNS resolvers, scheduling devices/components, and the like.

Each of the client computing devices 102 can accordingly includenecessary hardware and software components for establishingcommunications over the network 114. For example, the client computingdevices 102 may include networking components and additional softwareapplications that facilitate communications via the Internet or anintranet. As previously described, the client computing device 102 mayinclude an additional, separate browser software application. The clientcomputing devices 102 may also be associated with, or otherwise include,other computing components, such as proxy applications, for furtherfacilitating communications via the Internet or an intranet. Aspreviously described, the client computing components 104 may eachfunction as a browser software application for requesting content from anetwork resource. Additionally, in an illustrative embodiment, theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device 102may function as a proxy application for managing browser applicationcontent requests to the network resource. In other embodiments, theclient computing devices 102 may be otherwise associated with anexternal proxy application, as well as any other additional softwareapplications or software services, used in conjunction with requests forcontent.

With continued reference to FIG. 1 and as set forth generally above, theperformance measurement system 100 may include a content provider 108 incommunication with the one or more client computing devices 102 via thecommunication network 114. The content provider 108 may include a numberof content delivery components 110, such as a Web server component andassociated storage component corresponding to one or more servercomputing devices for obtaining and processing requests for content(such as Web pages) from the client computing devices 102. The contentprovider 108 can further include a performance measurement component 112for measuring performance metrics, such as a time associated withprocessing an incoming client request, identifying/obtaining therequested resource, and initiating the transmission of the resourceresponsive to the client request. One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that the content provider 108 can include or otherwise beassociated with various additional computing resources, including, butnot limited to, additional computing devices for administration ofcontent and resources, DNS name servers, interfaces for obtainingexternally provided content (e.g., advertisements, Web services, etc.),and the like. Although the performance measurement system 100 isillustrated in a client-server configuration, one skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that the performance measurement system 100may be implemented in a peer-to-peer configuration as well.

With yet further continued reference to FIG. 1, the performancemeasurement system 100 may further include a processing device 116 forcollecting and aggregating performance data related to the processing ofclient requests. The processing device 116 can also be used to assessthe collected performance data and to determine if modifications to theoriginal resource and/or embedded resources should be made to improveperformance for subsequent client requests for the original resourceand/or embedded resources.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the processing device 116 is in communicationwith the one or more client computing devices 102 and the contentprovider 108 via communication network 114. Additionally, as will befurther described below, the processing device 116 may include a metricprocessing component 118 for the collection and aggregation ofperformance data from the client computing devices 102 and contentprovider 108, or any other computing devices, as well as for theassessment of performance data. Specifically, in one embodiment, theclient computing components 104 and performance measurement components106 associated with client computing devices 102 provide performancemetric information to the metric processing component 118, while theperformance measurement component 112 of the content provider 108provides performance metric information to the metric processingcomponent 118. The processing device 116 may further include a localdata store 120 for storing the received performance data. It will beappreciated by one skilled in the art and others that metric processingcomponent 118 and data store 120 may correspond to multipledevices/components and/or may be distributed.

One skilled in the relevant art will also appreciate that the componentsand configurations provided in FIG. 1 are illustrative in nature.Accordingly, additional or alternative components and/or configurations,especially regarding additional components, systems and subsystems forfacilitating communications may be utilized.

With reference now to FIGS. 2-4, an illustrative example of theoperation of the performance monitoring system 100 according to someembodiments will be described. For purposes of the example, however, theillustration has been simplified such that many of the componentsutilized to facilitate communications are not shown. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that such components may be utilized andthat additional interactions would accordingly occur without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 2, a client computing component 104 initiates acontent request that is intended to ultimately be received and processedby the content provider 108. In an illustrative embodiment, therequested content may correspond to a Web page that is displayed on theclient computing device 102 via the processing of a base set ofinformation, such as hypertext markup language (“HTML”), extensiblemarkup language (“XML”), and the like. The base set of information mayalso include a number of embedded resource identifiers that correspondsto resource objects that should be obtained by the client computingdevice 102 as part of the processing of the requested content. Theembedded resource identifiers may be generally referred to as resourceidentifiers or resource URLs. The request for the base set ofinformation and the subsequent request(s) for any embedded resources maybe referred to generally as a “resource request.”

In one embodiment, prior to initiating a resource request, the clientcomputing component 104 associates a record identifier with the resourcerequest. As will be described further below, the record identifier maybe used to track performance metrics associated with processing therequested resource and any embedded resources. In one example, therecord identifier may be attached to the resource request as a header orotherwise embedded in the request. The client computing component 104then transmits the resource request with the record identifier. However,as will also be described further below, the client computing component104 may alternatively transmit the associated record identifier in aseparate transmission from the resource request.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art and othersthat the client computing component 104 may generate the resourcerequest and associated record identifier itself or receive one or theother or both from another storage or computing device. For example,another computing device, such as processing device 116, may be used todetermine whether a test to monitor performance metrics associated withprocessing a particular resource, such as a Web page, should beconducted. In this example, the processing device 116 may send the testrequest, which includes a resource identifier corresponding to thedesired resource request and a record identifier further associated withthe resource identifier, to the client computing device 102.

In one illustrative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the client computingcomponent 104 initiates the content request by transmitting the resourceidentifier and associated record identifier directly or indirectly tothe performance measurement component 106 of the client computing device102. However, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant artthat, in the alternative, the performance measurement component 106 canotherwise intercept the content request initiated by the clientcomputing component 104.

Continuing with the present example and in further reference to FIG. 2,the performance measurement component 106 receives the resource requestand forwards the resource request on to the content provider 108 viacommunication network 114. Thereafter, the performance measurementcomponent 106 continually monitors performance metrics associated withthe processing of the requested resource, including any embeddedresources. Specifically, in one illustrative embodiment, the performancemeasurement component 106 monitors network level performance metricsassociated with the processing of the requested resource and anyembedded resources, such as timing of receipt of the first and lastbytes (or packets) of data of each request. The performance measurementcomponent 106 can either obtain such performance metric informationdirectly from the operating system of the client computing device 102 orthrough the client computing component 104. The performance measurementcomponent 106 associates the monitored performance metrics with therecord identifier.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the content provider 108 receives theresource request from the client computing device 102 and processes theresource request using content delivery components 110, such as a Webserver. The content provider 108 can also use a performance measurementcomponent 112 to monitor performance metrics associated with processingthe incoming client request, identifying/obtaining the requestedresource, and initiating the transmission of the resource responsive tothe client request. As shown in FIG. 2, upon obtaining the requestedresource, the content provider 108 initiates transmission of therequested resource to the client computing device 102.

In this illustrative example, the performance measurement component 106at the client computing device 102 obtains the requested resource,continues monitoring the processing of the requested resource, andforwards the requested resource to the client computing component 104.For example, the performance measurement component 106 may serve as aproxy application for receiving the requested resource or otherwiseintercepting the requested resource. The client computing component 104also tracks performance metrics associated with the processing of therequested resource. Upon receipt of the requested resource, the clientcomputing component 104 begins processing the content for display on amonitor or other display device associated with the client computingdevice 102. Alternatively, the client computing component 104 canprocess the content for sending to any other component or externaldevice (e.g., a framebuffer). As will be further described below, theabove described functions apply to the processing of the originallyrequested resource, as well as any embedded resources.

With reference now to FIG. 3, the client computing component 104 and theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device 102can each identify performance metric information that the respectivecomponents have monitored and/or collected. The performance metricinformation from the client computing component 104 may include avariety of information, such as process information, memory information,network data, resource data, client computing component information,including page setups, browser rendering information, state variables,and other types of information. In one specific example, the performancemetric information may include information regarding a time at which aparticular resource was rendered on a Web page, its location on thepage, whether the resource was rendered on the device display, and thelike. The performance metric information from the performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102 can alsoinclude a variety of information as similarly set forth generally above.In one specific example, the performance metric data may include networkstatistics, latencies, bandwidths, and data arrival times, such as thetiming of receipt of first and last packets of information for therequested resource and each embedded resource. In another specificexample, the performance metric information can include timinginformation associated with processing executable resources, such asJavaScript, as well as additional information that can be used toindirectly determine processing times associated with the execution ofthe resource once the executable code has been obtained.

The performance metric information from the client computing component104 and/or the performance measurement component 106 of the clientcomputing device 102 can also include basic resource information, suchas an identification of the resource type, a link to a header associatedwith the requested resource, a size of the resource, an identificationof a domain from which the resource was requested, and the like. Evenfurther, the performance metric information can include underlyingcomputer resource information, such as a resolution of the display ofthe client computing device 102, a version of the browser applicationsoftware, an identification of any plugins associated with the browserapplication software, an identification of any updates to the operatingsystem of the client computing device 102, and the like. Even further,the performance metric information can include information regarding thelocation of the client device 102 (such as an IP address), serversassociated with the content provider 108, and the like.

Still further, the performance metric information can include anidentification of limitations and/or restrictions associated withprocessing resource requests using client computing device hardwareand/or software. For example, the performance metric information caninclude identification of a threshold number (e.g., a minimum, amaximum, a range, and the like) of simultaneous connections to a domain,as well as a total number of simultaneous connections regardless ofdomain. As another example, the performance metric information caninclude identification of an order associated with initiating embeddedresource requests.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the client computing component 104and the performance measurement component 106 of the client computingdevice 102 provide the identified performance metric informationtogether with the associated record identifier of the requested resourceto the metric processing component 118 of the processing device 116 viathe communication network 114. The metric processing component 118 thenprocesses the received performance metric information to assessperformance related to the processing of the client request for theoriginal resource and any embedded resources. The processed performancemetric information can be used to support modifications to the originalresource and/or embedded resources to improve performance for subsequentclient requests for the original resource. As will be appreciated by oneskilled in the art and others, the processing device 116 can store thereceived and/or processed performance metric information in local datastore 120, or any other data store distributed across the network 114.Additionally, as will be further described below in reference to FIGS.7A-7E, the processing device 116 can cause the display of the processedperformance metric information to a user of the system for furtherassessment.

In one illustrative embodiment, once the client computing component 104completes processing of the requested resource and any embeddedresources, the client computing component 104 identifies performancemetric information that the client computing component 104 monitoredand/or otherwise collected related to such processing. In this example,the client computing component 104 provides the identified performancemetric information with the record identifier associated with therequested resource to the metric processing component 118. Upon receiptof this information, the metric processing component 118 then requestsany further performance metric information related to the requestedresource and any embedded resources from the performance measurementcomponent 106 of the client computing device 102. In response, theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device 102identifies and provides performance metric information with the recordidentifier associated with the requested resource to the metricprocessing component 118. The metric processing component 118 can usethe record identifier to aggregate the received performance metricinformation. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art and othersthat the identified performance metric information may be transmitted tothe metric processing component 118 by a number of alternativemethodologies and/or components.

With reference now to FIG. 4, in one illustrative embodiment, theperformance measurement component 112 of the content provider 108 canidentify performance metric information that it has collected related tothe processing of the requested resource and/or any embedded resource.The performance measurement component 112 provides the identifiedperformance metric information to the metric processing component 118 ofthe processing device 116 via communication network 114. As will beappreciated by one skilled in the art and others, the performancemeasurement component 112 of the content provider 108 can provide theperformance metric information upon request from the processing device116 or upon completing its processing of the requested resource. As willbe described further below, the processing device 116 can then aggregatethe performance metric information from all components for displaying,processing, storing, or otherwise assessing performance related to theprocessing of the requested resource.

In one illustrative embodiment, the metric processing component 118processes the performance metric information received from some or allnetwork components (e.g., client computing component 104, performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102, and/orperformance measurement component 112 of the content provider 108, andthe like) to assess performance related to the processing of the clientrequest for the original resource and any embedded resources. Aspreviously mentioned, the processed performance metric information canbe used to support modifications to the original resource and/orembedded resources to improve performance for subsequent client requestsfor the original resource. For example, and as will be described furtherbelow in reference to FIG. 8, the metric processing component 118 canuse the processed performance metric information associated with theoriginal resource and, in this case, two or more embedded resources todynamically determine an allocation of domains to be associated with theembedded resources to improve performance. As will also be furtherdescribed below, in making such a determination, the metric processingcomponent 118 can further take into consideration performance metricinformation collected and associated with subsequent resource requestsfor the original resource and the corresponding embedded resources usingsuch alternative allocations of domains, as well as domain selectioncriteria which can be obtained from the original content provider.

With reference now to FIG. 5, one embodiment of a performance monitoringroutine 500 implemented by the client computing component 104 of theclient computing device 102 will be described. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine 500may be implemented by one or many computing devices/components that areassociated with the client computing device 102. Accordingly, routine500 has been logically associated as being generally performed by theclient computing device 102, and thus the following illustrativeembodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 502, a client computing component 104 identifies an originalresource request. As previously mentioned, the client computingcomponent 104 can generate the original resource request or receive theoriginal resource request from another computing device, such asprocessing device 116. In one example, the original resource request maybe for a Web page, such as http://example.com. At block 504, the clientcomputing component 104 associates a record identifier (RID) with theoriginal resource request. The RID may be a unique identifier associatedwith the original resource request. As will be further described below,the RID can also be associated with any embedded resources included in aresponse to the original resource request. Even further, although notillustrated, in an alternative embodiment, in the event that the clientcomputing component 104 does not need a RID, the client computingcomponent 104 may not associate a RID with the resource request at shownat block 504.

At block 506, the resource request is transmitted to another entity. Inthis example, the resource request is transmitted to the performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102. Aspreviously mentioned, the performance measurement component 106 canalternatively intercept the transmission request as it is being routedto a content provider 108 for example. In one illustrative embodiment,the resource request may itself contain the RID, such that the resourcerequest and associated RID are transmitted as part of the sametransmission. For example, the RID may be included as a portion of theresource URL used to request the resource. Alternatively oradditionally, the RID may be transmitted in a second communication,either before or after the transmission including the resource request.For example, a “start new request group” command, including the RID maybe issued before or after the initial resource request. In one furtheralternative embodiment, the client computing component 104 may notinclude a RID with the issuance of a “start new request group” command,and in this case, the performance measurement component 106 maygenerate, or otherwise obtain, such a RID upon receipt of the “start newrequest group” command.

Continuing at block 508, a determination is made at the client computingcomponent 104 regarding whether any additional resources need to berequested to fulfill the original resource request. As appreciated byone skilled in the relevant art, a response to the original resourcerequest may be returned to the client computing component 104 whichincludes a number of resource URLs corresponding to a number of embeddedresources required to fulfill the original resource request. In oneembodiment, if such additional resources are identified, processingreturns to block 506 where the client computing component 104 transmitsone or more requests for the identified embedded resources with the RIDassociated with the original resource request.

Alternatively or additionally, the client computing component 104 mayassign a component record identifier (CRID) to each request for anembedded resource at optional block 510. In this example, whenprocessing returns to block 506, the client computing component 104 maytransmit the one or more embedded resource requests with therespectively assigned CRIDs. In an illustrative embodiment, the requestsfor embedded resources may be transmitted with respective CRIDs alone ortogether with the RID of the original resource request. As embeddedresource requests (or component requests) are fulfilled, the returnedcontent is processed by the client computing component 104. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art and others that a response to anembedded resource request may include links to further embeddedresources. As such, the functionality associated with blocks 506-510 maybe repeated as described above until no resource requests areoutstanding and no more additional resources need to be requested.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that resourcerequests are processed by the client computing device 102 in accordancewith logic associated with the particular configuration of the browsersoftware application. For example, the browser software application maybe limited by a number of resource requests that may be made at onetime, an order associated with the type of requests that may be made, anorder based on a predetermined location for the requested resources on adisplay screen, or other limitations provided in the requested baseresource.

Once the client computing component 104 determines at block 508 that noadditional resources need to be obtained to fulfill the originalresource request or any subsequent embedded resource request, processingcan continue at optional block 512. At block 512, a termination command,such as “end new request group”, may be transmitted to indicate that therequest, including requests for all embedded resources, has completed.Such a termination command may provide closure to a “start new requestgroup” command, if one were issued as part of the first iteration ofblock 506. In this example, the start/termination commands may bereceived and used by the performance measurement component 106 todetermine which requested resources are associated with a particularoriginally requested resource.

At block 514, once the client computing component 104 has completedprocessing the requested original resource and any embedded resources,the client computing component 104 provides monitored performance metricinformation to processing device 116. The client computing component 104monitors such performance metric information throughout the processingof the original resource request from initiation of the originalresource request to final rendering of the requested resource and anyembedded resources. The performance metric information can include, forexample, timing data associated with the initiation of each request,receipt of a response to each request, and rendering of each requestedresource, as well as other information as described herein. The routine500 ends at block 516.

With reference now to FIG. 6, one embodiment of a performance monitoringroutine 600 implemented by the performance measurement component 106 ofthe client computing device 102 will be described. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine 600may be implemented by one or many computing devices/components that areassociated with the client computing device 102. Accordingly, routine600 has been logically associated as being generally performed by theclient computing device 102, and thus the following illustrativeembodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 602, the performance measurement component 106 of the clientcomputing component 100 receives (or intercepts) an original resourcerequest from the client computing component 104. In one illustrativeembodiment, the performance measurement component 106 receives the RIDwith the original resource request. Alternatively, the RID may beprovided as a part of a separate transmission, and accordingly, in thiscase, the performance measurement component 106 receives the RIDseparately. At block 604, the performance measurement component 106associates the RID with the original resource request. In accordancewith other embodiments discussed above, the original resource requestmay be preceded or followed by a command or instructions, such as a“start new request group” command. Such commands may be transmitted withor without a RID, as set forth above. If such commands are received atthe performance measurement component 106 without a RID, the performancemeasurement component may generate, or otherwise obtain, a RID toassociate the original resource request at block 604.

Continuing at block 606, the original resource may be requested, such asby proxying or forwarding the resource request to the content provider108 via network 114. The resource request may be modified from itsoriginal form before sending, such as by stripping headers including theassociated RID. The performance measurement component 106 also monitorsthe processing, including fulfillment, of the resource request at block606. For example, the performance measurement component can identifyperformance metric information related to the initiation of the resourcerequest, the receipt of first and last bytes of data for each requestedresource and any embedded resources, the receipt of responsive content,and the like. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art,once a response to the resource request is received at the performancemeasurement component 106, the response is returned to the requestingapplication.

At block 608, a determination is made by the performance measurementcomponent 106 regarding whether a subsequent resource request related tothe original resource request has been made by the client computingcomponent 104 and accordingly received (or intercepted) by theperformance measurement component. If a subsequent embedded resourcerequest (which may bear the same RID as the original resource request,an appropriate CRID, and/or be within a start/stop command window) isreceived, processing continues at block 610. At block 610, theperformance measurement component 106 requests any embedded resourcesand monitors the processing of the requested embedded resources assimilarly described above in reference to the originally requestedresource and block 606. The functionality associated with blocks 608-610may be repeated as described above until no resource requests areoutstanding.

If the performance measurement component 106 determines that no moreoutstanding resource requests remain at block 608, processing continuesat block 612. Specifically, the performance measurement component 106provides monitored performance metric information to processing device116. The performance measurement component 106 monitors such performancemetric information throughout the processing of the original resourcerequest, from initiation of the original resource request to finalrendering of the requested resource and any embedded resources. Theperformance metric information may include, for example, timing dataassociated with the initiation of each request, receipt of a response toeach request, and receipt of first and last packets of data for each ofthe original resource request and any embedded resource requests, aswell as other additional information as described herein.

In one illustrative embodiment, the performance measurement component106 can identify performance metric information for providing to theprocessing device 116 in a variety of ways. For example, in oneembodiment, the performance measurement component 106 can storeperformance measurement information in a log file together withidentifiers to associate performance metric information withcorresponding resource requests. In this example a set of requestedresources may be joined by common RIDs, common CRIDs, associated CRID(e.g., where each component has a distinct CRID, but the distinct CRIDsof a single group have been associated or otherwise linked together,such as by a RID). In another illustrative embodiment, the performancemeasurement component can retrieve performance metric information from alog file based on timing information associated with a resource request.For example, a set of requested resources may be defined as theresources requested or fulfilled between a start command and an endcommand, or between an original resource request (inclusive) and a stopcommand. The routine 600 ends at block 614.

With reference now to FIG. 7A, an illustrative user interface 700generated by the processing device 116 for displaying a variety ofperformance metric information collected, or otherwise identified, bythe performance measurement system 100 of FIG. 1 will be described.Generally, the user interface 700 shown in FIG. 7A provides a graphicalside-by-side comparison of the performance metric information identifiedfor the originally requested resource and some or all requested embeddedresources. The user interface 700 may also be provided over the network114 for display on other computing devices.

With reference to FIG. 7A, the user interface 700 may be utilized todisplay a set of time-based events for a set of resources. For example,the user interface 700 may graphically represent an order of time-basedevents for an originally requested resource and for each subsequentrequest for embedded resources. More specifically, the user interface700 includes a legend 702 identifying, for a number of resource types, agraphical indicator corresponding to a number of time-based events 704,706, 708, 710, and 712 involved in processing a request for theresource. The resource types identified in the legend 702 include HTMLresources, image (IMG) resources, and JavaScript (JS) resources.However, it will be appreciated that a number of alternative oradditional resource types can be identified. For each resource type, thelegend 702 provides a distinct color-coded indicator corresponding to atransition period and/or transition event(s) occurring between eachidentified event 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712. In one embodiment, thedistinct indicators may be visual in nature, such as color-coded,cross-hatched, or the like. In another embodiment, instead of using adistinct indicator for each transition period and/or transition event(s)associated with each resource type as illustrated in FIG. 7A, a distinctindicator may be used simply for each transition period and/ortransition event(s) regardless of the resource type.

In an illustrative embodiment, events 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712correspond to the following time-based events identified by theperformance metric information. Event 704 identifies a Start Eventrepresenting a time at which the corresponding resource was known to berequired by the client computing component 104. Event 706 identifies aNetStart Event representing a time at which the corresponding resourcewas actually requested by the client computing component 104. The timingof the NetStart Event may not be the same as the Start Event if, forexample, the browser software application limits the number ofconcurrent connections with a particular domain. Event 708 identifies aFirst Byte Event representing a time at which the first byte (or firstpacket) of the requested resource is received by the performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102. Event 710identifies a Last Byte Event representing a time at which the last byte(or last packet) of the requested resource is received by theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device102. Finally, event 712 identifies a Render Event representing a time atwhich the client computing component 104 finishes rendering therequested resource.

A second portion 730 of the user interface 700 corresponds to arepresentation illustrating the occurrence of each of the time-basedevents 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712 for all or some of the resourcesrequested in resolving the original resource request. In one embodiment,the representation horizontally corresponds to time and verticallycorresponds to an ordered listing of the requested resources. In oneexample, the order can specifically correspond to an order in which therequested resources are initially identified by the client computingcomponent 104. In addition, the second portion 730 of the displayincludes a variety of additional information adjacent to the time-basedevent representation for each resource. For example, in a first column732, a resource type for each resource may be provided, e.g., HTML,image, CSS, JavaScript, and the like. In a second column 734, a link toa header corresponding to each requested resource may be provided. In athird column 736, an HTTP response status code corresponding to eachrequested resource can be provided. Code 200, for example, is indicativeof a standard response for successful HTTP requests. Finally, in afourth column 738, the size of each resource may be provided.

In another embodiment, yet further additional information may bedisplayed in the user interface 700. For example, the user interface 700may display the total processing time, both numerically and graphically,associated with processing the original resource request including anyembedded resource requests. In this example, an indicator 740 mayillustrate a starting time while an indicator 746 may illustrate anending time, both associated with the processing of the originalresource request as a whole. Additionally, when the original resourcerequest is a request for a Web page, the user interface 700 mayillustrate a time, both numerically and graphically, at which allresources have been rendered in a portion of a Web page which isinitially visible to a user without scrolling. This portion of the Webpage is often referred as an “above the fold,” “above the scroll,” or“above the crease” portion. An indicator 744 in the user interface 700of FIG. 7A illustrates an “above the fold” (ATF) event.

The foregoing performance metric information provided in the userinterface 700 may be identified and/or collected by a combination of theclient computing component 104 and/or the performance measurementcomponent 106 of the client computing device 102. However, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art and others that additionalperformance metric information can be displayed. Such additionallydisplayed performance metric information can be obtained by the clientcomputing device 102, by the performance measurement component 112 ofthe content provider 108, or based on further processing of any of theidentified and/or collected performance metric information. It will yetfurther be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that eachresource and/or each type of resource may be associated with all or onlya portion of the above-described events and/or performance metricinformation. In addition, other events and/or indicators associated withthe other events may be used and illustrated in the user interface 700.

In one specific example, an executable resource, such as a JavaScriptresource, is not rendered and, accordingly, neither a Render Event 712nor an associated indicator illustrating the transition between a LastByte Event 710 and a Render Event 712 will be illustrated in the userinterface 700 for that executable resource. However, the processingdevice 116 can indirectly determine and display a processing timeassociated with execution of the code once the code itself is obtained(i.e., receipt of the last byte of the code which corresponds to theLast Byte Event 710). Such processing time is inferred in the userinterface 700 of FIG. 7A by illustration of a gap formed between thereceipt of the last byte of code associated with a first JavaScriptresource at 750 and the start event associated with a subsequentlyrequested JavaScript resource at 752. Alternatively, an additional eventand/or associated indicator could be used to specifically identify theprocessing time associated with execution of the code.

By providing and displaying the foregoing performance metric informationas set forth above, a user of the processing device 116 can readilyevaluate the performance associated with processing the originallyrequested resource, including any embedded resources. In particular, theuser interface 700 can help a user identify any problems associated withthe processing of the originally requested resource, as well asdetermine one or more solutions to the identified problem. Solutions forimproving performance may include, for example, making changes to thecontent itself, to the organization of content within the originallyrequested resource, to the client computing component, and the like.

Additionally, the user interface 700 can be used to illustrate arecommendation associated with the processed and displayed performancemetric information. For example, and as will be described further below,the processing device 116 may dynamically identify one or more sets ofdomains to be utilized in conjunction with processing a subsequentrequest corresponding to the original base resource and two or moreembedded resources and initiate testing of the subsequent request. Assimilarly set forth above with respect to the original base resourcerequest, the user interface 700 can be used to display performancemetric information associated with the processing of each of thesesubsequent requests. In addition, the user interface 700 can be used todisplay a recommendation identifying a particular allocation of domainswhich, for example, has been tested and demonstrated improvedperformance associated with processing the requested resources.

FIG. 7B illustrates the performance associated with processing a requestfor an original resource and two or more embedded resources where theembedded resources are requested by a client computing device 102 fromthe same domain (e.g., a domain associated with the domain nameexample.com). In particular, FIG. 7B illustrates that the last byte ofdata for the first two embedded image resources 750 is returned to theclient computing device 102 before the next two embedded image resources752 are requested by the client computing device 102, and so on for eachof the last four depicted image resources 754 and 756. Based on suchperformance data, the processing device 116 may determine that one ormore limitations are operating to restrict network traffic to and/orfrom the client computing device. These limitations may, for example,include browser-imposed limits associated with a threshold number ofsimultaneous connections to a given domain name, as well as a totalnumber of simultaneous connections regardless of domain. In particular,in reference to the illustrative embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7B,these limitations may include browser-imposed limits of requesting andreceiving no more than two resources from a particular domain at anygiven time and no more than eight resources in total (regardless ofdomain) at any given time. This determination can be inferred fromperformance data identifying the timing of an initial request for theresource and a return of the last byte of information associated withthe requested resource. The timing information may be considered aloneor together with an identification of the domain from which eachresource is requested. Moreover, in one embodiment, the user interface700 depicted in FIG. 7B may also include an identification of the domain(e.g., the domain name) from which each of the resources is requested.In another embodiment, instead of inferring the above-identifiedlimitation from the timing information, the performance data received bythe processing device 116 may explicitly include an identification ofsuch limitations associated with the client computing device 102 (e.g.,a threshold number of simultaneous connections to a domain, as well as atotal number of simultaneous connections regardless of domain).

FIG. 7C illustrates the performance associated with processing asubsequent request for the original resource and the two or moreembedded resources originally requested in reference to FIG. 7B. In thisexample, instead of requesting the embedded resources from a singledomain, the embedded resources are requested from one of two domains.Accordingly, for example, the first two embedded image resources 760 arerequested from a first domain, e.g., associated with the domain nameexample.com, while the next two embedded image resources 762 arerequested from a second domain, e.g., associated with the domain nameexample1.com. In this example, and as shown in FIG. 7C, since the clientcomputing device 102 can maintain two simultaneous connections perdomain, these first four embedded image resources 760 and 762 can berequested and received simultaneously. Once the embedded resources 760associated with the first domain have been received, the next twoembedded image resource requests associated with the first domain may bemade, which in this example correspond to image resource pair 764, asalso illustrated in FIG. 7C. Similarly, once the embedded resources 762associated with the second domain have been received, the next twoembedded image resource requests associated with the second domain maybe made, which in this example correspond to image resource pair 766, asalso further illustrated in FIG. 7C. Accordingly, in this example, whilethe total number of simultaneous connections regardless of domain islimited to eight, all of these simultaneous connections are not utilizedgiven the particular allocation of domains associated with the embeddedresources and the limitation of two simultaneous connections to anygiven domain.

As illustrated by a comparison of the processed performance informationdepicted in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the use of the allocation of domainsproviding for use of two domains from which embedded resources can berequested improved performance associated with processing a request forthe original resource and the embedded resources in this instance. Thisresult is demonstrated by the overall reduced processing time associatedtherewith. In one embodiment, the user interfaces illustrated in FIGS.7B and 7C can be provided to the content provider along with a specificrecommendation, for example, to consider using the allocation of domainsassociated with FIG. 7C in order to improve performance.

In another embodiment, in accordance with the examples illustrated inreference to FIGS. 7B and 7C, a further subsequent resource requestcorresponding to a different allocation of domains may be tested inorder to fully utilize the total number of eight simultaneousconnections regardless of domain. In this case, each of the pairs ofembedded resources 760, 762, 764, and 766 are each requested from adifferent domain, e.g., example1.com, example2.com, example3.com, andexample4.com respectively.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art and othersthat a number of factors may affect performance associated withprocessing a resource request and, accordingly, increasing a number ofdomains from which embedded resources are requested may not alwaysimprove performance. Factors that can be considered in determiningwhether an allocation of domains associated with two or more embeddedresources will improve performance include, for example, a number ofembedded resources corresponding to the original resource request, asize associated with each of the embedded resources, a total oreffective bandwidth over which the request is made and resource isreturned, a threshold number of simultaneous connections to a domain, atotal number of simultaneous connections regardless of domain, an orderof requesting the embedded resources, and the like. In addition, networkarchitecture and topology generally may affect performance and maytherefore be considered in determining whether an allocation of domainswill improve performance. For example, network congestion on one or morenodes of the network between a given client and server may act to limitthe effective bandwidth between the client and server to an amount lessthan the bandwidth available to either the client or the server, andaccordingly interject network and/or server latencies into theprocessing of a resource request. Even further, various cost metrics mayalso be taken into consideration, such as costs associated withregistering and maintaining multiple domains.

With respect to these and other factors, it may be possible to associatethe factor's influence on performance to predict the expected resultthat the combination of that factor will have with respect to changingthe number of domains used. However, it may not always be possible topredict the influence the combination of factors will have with respectto changing the number of domains used. Because such factors mayinfluence the overall processing performance associated with a requestfor an original resource and corresponding embedded resources, thedetermination of an allocation of domains that achieves the best ordesired level of performance for a particular resource request will beanalyzed by a review of the performance information resulting from theassociated test cases. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the determinationof an allocation of domains associated with a resource request may be afunction of the overall performance information, which may inherently bea function of a combination of the above factors, for example.

As a simplified example of the effect of one of the foregoing identifiedfactors on processing performance, FIG. 7D illustrates the processing ofa request for an original resource and two or more embedded resourcesidentical to those processed and illustrated in reference to FIG. 7Bwith the exception that the embedded resource requests are made overconnections associated with a relatively lower bandwidth, which may bemore susceptible to saturation as will be further illustrated inreference to FIG. 7E. In this instance, in reference to FIG. 7D, theresulting processed performance information illustrates that only twoembedded resources are requested and received at any given time from asingle domain (as illustrated by embedded resource pairs 770, 772, 774and 776 which are all associated with the same domain) and that theoverall processing time for the embedded resources is longer in FIG. 7Dthan the same in FIG. 7B.

Alternatively, FIG. 7E illustrates the performance associated withprocessing a subsequent request for the original resource and the two ormore embedded resources originally requested in reference to FIG. 7D viaconnections associated with the same relatively slower bandwidth.However, in the example provided in reference to FIG. 7E, instead ofrequesting the embedded resources from a single domain, each pair ofembedded resources 780, 782, 784, and 786 are requested from a differentdomain. Accordingly, the eight embedded image resources illustrated inFIG. 7E can all be requested and received simultaneously. However, asillustrated by a comparison of the performance information illustratedin FIGS. 7D and 7E, the use of the allocation of domains providing foruse of four domains from which eight embedded images resources can berequested did not improve performance associated with processing arequest for the original resource and the embedded resources in thisinstance. This result is demonstrated by the overall increasedprocessing time associated therewith, and in this simplified example,may be attributable to increased latency associated with saturating theavailable bandwidth. Specifically, by increasing the number of requestsbeing simultaneously initiated (via use of multiple domains inaccordance with the foregoing example) and thus also increasing thetotal number of bytes of data being sent over those connections (until amaximum number of connections is reached), the available bandwidth canbecome saturated resulting in latencies in processing the requests.Therefore, the system 100 would not necessarily recommend to increasethe number of domains in some scenarios.

In addition to measuring the performance impact attributable to use of aparticular number of domains and simultaneous connections, the effect ofthe particular mapping between domains and embedded resources can alsobe analyzed and varied. For example, a particular domain may beassociated with a relatively slow (or fast) connection or server.Performance may be impacted, for example, by the number of resourcesmapped to the “slow” domain. As such, the system 100 may recommend todecrease the number of resources mapped, such as by remapping them to afaster domain. As another example, particular resources may beconsidered high priority based on factors such as their identity, size,layout location, processing priority, and the like. The system 100 mayrecommend a mapping of domains to resources such that high-priorityresources are accorded earlier download priority. This can beaccomplished, for example, by mapping low-priority resources to a firstdomain (or set of domains) while mapping high-priority resources to asecond domain (or set of domains). In such a case, the low-priorityresources may form one queue for network and/or server access whilehigh-priority resources form a separate queue.

With reference now to FIG. 8, one embodiment of a content processing andrecommendation routine 800 implemented by the processing device 116 ofthe performance measurement system 100 will be described. One skilled inthe relevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine800 may be implemented by one or many computing devices/components thatare associated with the processing device 116. Accordingly, routine 800has been logically associated as being generally performed by theprocessing device 116, and thus the following illustrative embodimentsshould not be construed as limiting.

At block 802, the processing device 116 identifies a set of one or moredomains to be associated with two or more embedded resources and tothereafter be utilized to process a resource request for an originalresource and the two or more corresponding embedded resources. Theprocessing device 116 can take into consideration a variety ofinformation for identifying a set of domains. For example, in oneembodiment, the processing device 116 can receive a request from acontent provider to test a specifically identified set of domains or aspecific allocation of domains in order to assess performance associatedwith processing the resource request using the identified set orallocation of domains. An allocation of domains identifies not only aspecific set of domains to be used to process the resource request, butalso the association of each of the domains to each of the embeddedresources corresponding to the resource request. An allocation ofdomains may also specify an order associated with requesting each of theembedded resources from a corresponding domain.

In another embodiment, the processing device 116 can dynamicallyidentify, based on previously processed performance metric informationassociated with a first request for an original resource and two or moreembedded resources, a set or allocation of domains that could be used toprocess a subsequent request for the two or more embedded resources andto possibly offer improved performance. Alternatively, in yet anotherembodiment, the processing device 116 may automatically decide to test,and hence identify, a set or allocation of domains regardless of theassessed performance associated with processing the first resourcerequest for the original resource and two or more corresponding embeddedresources.

The processing device 116 can take into consideration a number offactors in identifying, for testing purposes, a set and/or allocation ofdomains to be associated with two or more embedded resources. Assimilarly set forth above, such factors include, for example, a numberof embedded resources corresponding to the original resource request, asize associated with each of the embedded resources, a total oreffective bandwidth over which the request is made and resource isreturned, a threshold number of simultaneous connections to a domain, atotal number of simultaneous connections regardless of domain, an orderof requesting the embedded resources, and the like.

In addition or alternatively, the processing device 116 can take intoconsideration a variety of other domain selection criteria. The serviceprovider selection criteria can include, for example, domain quality ofservice information, cost information associated with processing aresource request using a particular domain, and the like. The quality ofservice information can include information regarding reliability,service level quality, transmission errors, and the like. Specifically,in one embodiment, the processing device 116 can obtain domain selectioncriteria from the content provider 108. The content provider 108 maywant the processing device 116 to only test domains which meet a minimumquality of service level or which would only cost a specified amount toimplement.

At block 804, once the processing device 116 identifies an allocation ofdomains to use in processing a resource request, the processing device116 enables the two or more embedded resources corresponding to theresource request to be processed and/or transmitted by each identifiedand associated domain. Specifically, in one embodiment, the processingdevice 116 associates, for each embedded resource of the two or moreembedded resources, a domain from the set of domains from which theassociated embedded resource will be requested. In another embodiment,the processing device 116 also determines configuration information forenabling the use of the set of domains to process and/or transmit thetwo or more associated embedded resources. The processing device 116uses the configuration information to prepare the domain for processingand/or transmitting content as necessary.

In one illustrative embodiment, where the resource request correspondsto a request for a Web page, the processing device 116 can continue touse the original resource identifier for the original resource request.In this embodiment, the content provider 108 continues to maintain andprovide the HTML code that is responsive to the original resourcerequest. However, in one example, an identified domain can be preparedto provide various resources embedded in the HTML code returned by thecontent provider 108. Accordingly, the processing device 116 can modifyat least a portion of the HTML code with translated embedded resourcerequests. Specifically, the two or more embedded resource identifierscan be modified such that they are now directed to a particularassociated domain from the identified set of domains.

In another embodiment, the processing device 116 can store the HTML codeof the Web page to be tested on a local server. In this case, theprocessing device 116 modifies the original resource identifier to querythe processing device 116 (or associated Web server) for the requestedresources. For example, the processing device 116 can modify theoriginal resource identifier ashttp://www.processingdevice.com/contentprovider.com/path/resource.xxx.In this embodiment, the processing device 116 would provide the modifiedHTML that would include translated embedded resource identifiers.

Returning to FIG. 8, at block 806, the processing device 116 theninitiates the resource request associated with content to be processedand/or transmitted by the set of domains by requesting that the clientcomputing device 102 initiate the query. As similarly described above,the client computing device 102 monitors and collects performance dataassociated with the processing of the resource request and provides theperformance data to the processing device 116. Accordingly, at block810, the processing device 116 obtains and processes the performancedata from the client computing device 102. The obtained performance datais associated with the processing of the resource request using the setof domains to provide the two or more associated embedded resourcescorresponding to the resource request.

Next, at block 812, a determination is made whether any additional setsof domains should be used to process the two or more embedded resourcescorresponding to the resource request and, accordingly, be tested todetermine how the use of the additional sets of domains may affect theperformance associated with processing such a request. If an additionalset of domains is to be identified, then processing returns to block 802and the foregoing process in reference to blocks 802-812 is repeated asdescribed above. If no additional set of domains is identified,processing continues at block 814.

At block 814, the processing device 116 dynamically determines anallocation of domains to be associated with the two or more embeddedresources based on the obtained and processed performance data.Additionally or alternatively, the processing device 116 can take intoconsideration a number of factors in determining a recommendedallocation of domains to be associated with the embedded resources.Again, as similarly set forth above, such factors include, for example,a number of embedded resources corresponding to the original resourcerequest, a size associated with each of the embedded resources, a totalor effective bandwidth over which the request is made and resource isreturned, a threshold number of simultaneous connections to a domain, atotal number of simultaneous connections regardless of domain, an orderof requesting the embedded resources, and the like.

Even further, the processing device may, additionally or alternatively,take into consideration domain selection criteria in the determinationof a recommended allocation of domains. As also similarly mentionedabove, the domain selection criteria can be obtained from a contentprovider 108 and can include quality of service information, costinformation, and the like. As also set forth above, the quality ofservice information can include information regarding reliability,service level quality, transmission errors, and the like. In oneexample, the processing device 116 can determine that an allocation ofdomains corresponding to the best performance data is the determinedallocation of domains. Alternatively, a content provider 108 may notwant to implement the best performing allocation of domains forprocessing and/or transmitting the two or more embedded resources in anassociated Web page, but rather wants to take into consideration cost.Accordingly, in that case, the processing device 116 may select theallocation of domains associated with the best performing allocation ofdomains within a particular cost range.

In addition to determining the allocation of domains to be associatedwith the embedded resources, the processing device 116 can also generatea recommendation identifying the determined allocation of domains orprovide an evaluation of all of the tested allocations of domainstogether with a recommendation of the determined allocation of domains.Such recommendations and/or evaluations can then be provided to thecontent provider 108. The processing device 116 can also generate andprovide modified HTML code with translated embedded resources to thecontent provider 108 for utilizing the determined allocation of domains.The routine ends at block 816.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that whileprocessing, monitoring, and other functions have been described hereinas being performed at various components of the client computing device102 and/or the processing device 116, these functions can be distributedacross one or more computing devices. In addition, the performancemetric information monitored at the client computing device 102 can bemaintained globally by the client computing device 102 and shared withall or some subset of the components of the client computing device 102.

It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art and othersthat all of the functions described in this disclosure may be embodiedin software executed by one or more processors of the disclosedcomponents. The software may be persistently stored in any type ofnon-volatile storage.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: undercontrol of one or more configured computer systems, identifying two ormore domain allocations to be individually utilized in conjunction withprocessing a content request corresponding to two or more embeddedresources, wherein a domain allocation comprises an association betweenthe two or more embedded resources and a set of domains, wherein the twoor more domain allocations are different; obtaining performance datarelated to processing the content request using individual ones of thetwo or more domain allocations; and causing, for individual ones of thetwo or more domain allocations, generation of an interface for displayof the obtained performance data in relation to individual ones of thetwo or more embedded resources.
 2. The computer-implemented method asrecited in claim 1, wherein identifying two or more domain allocationsis based, at least in part, on a threshold number of simultaneousconnections regardless of domain.
 3. The computer-implemented method asrecited in claim 1, wherein identifying two or more domain allocationsis based, at least in part, on bandwidth.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying two or more domainallocations is based, at least in part, on a threshold number ofsimultaneous connections to a single domain.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying two or more domainallocations is based, at least in part, on domain quality of serviceinformation.
 6. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1,wherein identifying two or more domain allocations is based, at least inpart, on a size associated with each of the embedded resources.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein identifyingtwo or more domain allocations comprises receiving a request from acontent provider to use a specific domain allocation.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein individualdomain allocations of the two or more domain allocations further specifyan order associated with requesting each of the two or more embeddedresources from a domain of the domain allocation.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein the two ormore domain allocations are identified based, at least in part, onpreviously processed performance metric information associated with aprior request for the two or more embedded resources.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:for individual domain allocations of the two or more domain allocations:associating, for individual embedded resources of the two or moreembedded resources, a domain from the domain allocation and from whichthe associated embedded resource will be requested; and causing aninitiation of a request corresponding to the two or more embeddedresources, wherein the request is associated with the domain allocation.11. A system comprising: at least one processing device including aprocessing component operative to: identify two or more domainallocations to be individually utilized in conjunction with processing acontent request corresponding to two or more embedded resources, whereina domain allocation comprises an association between the two or moreembedded resources and a set of domains, wherein the two or more domainallocations are different; obtain performance data related to processingthe content request using individual ones of the two or more domainallocations; and cause, for individual ones of the two or more domainallocations, generation of an interface for display of the obtainedperformance data in relation to individual ones of the two or moreembedded resources.
 12. The system as recited in claim 11, whereinidentifying two or more domain allocations is based, at least in part,on a threshold number of simultaneous connections regardless of domain.13. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein identifying two or moredomain allocations is based, at least in part, on bandwidth.
 14. Thesystem as recited in claim 11, wherein identifying two or more domainallocations is based, at least in part, on a threshold number ofsimultaneous connections to a single domain.
 15. The system as recitedin claim 11, wherein identifying two or more domain allocations isbased, at least in part, on a number of embedded resources correspondingto the content request.
 16. The system as recited in claim 11, whereinidentifying two or more domain allocations is based, at least in part,on cost information associated with processing the content request usinga particular domain.
 17. The system as recited in claim 11, whereinidentifying two or more domain allocations comprises receiving a requestfrom a content provider to use a specific domain allocation.
 18. Thesystem as recited in claim 11, wherein individual domain allocations ofthe two or more domain allocations further specify an order associatedwith requesting each of the two or more embedded resources from a domainof the domain allocation.
 19. The system as recited in claim 11, whereinthe two or more domain allocations are identified based, at least inpart, on previously processed performance metric information associatedwith a prior request for the two or more embedded resources.
 20. Thesystem as recited in claim 11, wherein the at least one processingdevice is further operative to: for individual domain allocations of thetwo or more domain allocations: associate, for individual embeddedresources of the two or more embedded resources, a domain from thedomain allocation and from which the associated embedded resource willbe requested; and cause an initiation of a request corresponding to thetwo or more embedded resources, wherein the request is associated withthe domain allocation.